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Whitening Stained Teeth From Smoking

Posted on 8/20/2016 by Mark Bieber

Your teeth pay a price if you are a smoker. From higher plaque, to cavities, gum disease and bad breath, to add insult to this situation is yellowed and brown stained teeth. Discolored teeth cause a lack of confidence, a fear of judgement and stops you from putting your best foot forward in an initial introduction. Whitening your teeth can help.

Whether you use cigarettes, chewing tobacco, cigars or pipes, tobacco and nicotine use wreaks havoc on your oral health, including the look of your teeth.

Why do smokers have yellow teeth?

Teeth yellow from the nicotine and tar in tobacco. By itself, nicotine is colorless, but once mixed with oxygen, nicotine turns yellow. As tobacco is inhaled or placed in the mouth, nicotine and tar are able to leach their way into the microscopic openings of the enamel, giving the appearance of a yellow and brown discoloration.

What you may not know is that tobacco stains are extrinsic, meaning the stains are on the outer layer of the tooth surface, meaning it is not necessarily permanent and can be removed.

Whitening Options

There are varying whitening options to whiten and brighten your teeth. Options including whitening toothpaste, to over the counter whitening kits, to dentist prescribed whitening kits, to in office dentist overseeing whitening.

These options range drastically in the amount of peroxide used. Store purchased whitening options will obviously have less peroxide, but anything more should be done under the eye of your dentist to avoid burning your gums or damaging your enamel.

Dental Veneers

Depending on the look of your teeth, you may want to consider the placement of dental veneers. Veneers are a thin shell of porcelain that is placed on the front, visible, portion of your front eight teeth. It is an easy way to have perfect looking teeth. Patients are often very happy with the results of dental veneers. They hide imperfections and give you a perfect look.